MURRAY — Two men have been arrested in Murray in connection with an alleged hate crime.
Brian Steven Platt, 47, and Monte Eugene Luker, 46, were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Thursday for investigation of aggravated robbery.
The incident happened on July 4. Platt and Luker approached a third man while holding a bat and calling the victim an offensive name related to a person's sexual orientation, according to a police booking affidavit. The men then allegedly took the victim's cellphone, which was recording at that point.
"The cellphone was recording and you can clearly see Monte swinging a bat at and toward the area where the victim was. The victim stated that the bat did not make contact with (him) but that it did hit the wall above the (his) head," the affidavit alleges, adding that the men then threw the victim's cellphone to the ground before walking away.
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime because of what was said, the arrest report states.
Platt was arrested Thursday after returning to the apartment complex where the victim lives and allegedly confronting him again. When Luker was taken into custody, he claimed that "he was using meth and bath salts the night of the incident," according to the affidavit.
Court records indicate that both Platt and Luker have lengthy criminal histories.
